Horikawa Toys 1959 – 1980

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Formed in Tokyo in 1959 Horikawa, often thought of as a manufacturer of tin toys, is now believed to have been simply a reseller of products supplied by Metal House (Marumiya) which itself began life around 1943.

Horikawa is best known for its prolific range of space toys, noteably its space robots (Mr. Zerox, Attacking Martian, Fighting Robot) to name but three. Initially the robots Horikawa produced were clockwork in operation and are often referred to as their 1st. generation robots, later these were replaced by a ‘2nd. generation’ which were battery driven. Depite three decades of success Horikawa, like many other Japanese toy companies of the time, closed in the late 1980’s whilst Metal House still continues to this date producing a range of battery operated tin robots.

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< Horikawa ‘ATTACKING MARTIAN’ Robot

1970’s battery operated ‘Attacking Martian’ robot. Tinplate with plastic head, arms and legs, detailed tinprinting with open chest with firing guns. Walking action with moving arms, 23cm.

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                               Horikawa ‘Mr. ZEROX’ Robot >

1960’s battery operated ‘Mr. Zerox’ robot. Tinplate with plastic head, arms and legs in dark brown colourway, red ‘baseball’ type hat and bronze feet. Walking action and moving arms, opening chest door reveals guns with firing and sparking action, 23cm.

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< Horikawa ‘ROTATE-O-MATIC’ Robot

Battery operated ‘Rotate-O-Matic’ Super Astronaut Robot. Tinplate and plastic construction with opening chest with blinking and shooting guns with realistic noise. Automatic ‘Stop-N-Go’ walking action, moving arms and rotating body, 29cm.

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    Horikawa ‘STAR STRIDER’ Robot >

A 1970’s battery operated ‘Star Strider’ robot of tinplate construction with plastic arms and legs. Robot comes in green finish with lithographed detailing, opening chest feature with blinking and firing gun with realistic shooting sounds. Walking action, moving arms and rotating body, 30cm.

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< Horikawa ‘NASA SPACE STATION’

Battery operated tinplate model of a ‘NASA Space Station’ dates to c1950, model came in blue finish with red trim with detailed tin-printing. 5x clear panels each showing a different ‘room’ within the station,  control room / offices / dormitories etc., 29cm.

Horikawa ‘GEAR’ Robot >

Clockwork, permanent key, ‘Gear’ robot from Horikawa  of tinplate and plastic construction in grey colourway finish with red feet. This 1960’s robot has forward walking motion with moving arms and space sounds. Clear plastic panel to chest with visible rotating gear mechanism. Red plastic sparking helmet, 23cm.